Techmeme
February 21, 2012, 2:45 PM

Top News

Matt Hickey / The Daily:
Microsoft Office for iPad expected in coming weeks  —  Back in November, The Daily initially uncovered the existence of an iPad version of the Microsoft Office Suite.  Sources now say that the app will soon be submitted to Apple for approval.  —  A brief hands-on with a working prototype …
Jesse Hicks / The Verge:
Research, no motion: How the BlackBerry CEOs lost an empire  —  “We are no longer a company that is innovative and energetic, we are drowning in paperwork.”  —  By many accounts, the problems at RIM go deeper than just outdated software.  Things reached a crisis point in 2011, which could be known as “The Year of the Open Letter.”
More: eWeek
Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Official Warns About ‘Anonymous’ Power Play  —  U.S. Official Signals Growing Concern Over Anonymous Group's Capabilities  —  The director of the National Security Agency has warned that the hacking group Anonymous could have the ability within the next year or two to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack.
Roger Cheng / CNET:
Sorry, PlayBook 2.0 still isn't worth your money  —  Yes, the updated software now gives you access to email, but tablets should do a whole lot more.  Does the PlayBook offer anything the iPad or an Android tablet?  Not really.  —  The PlayBook gets a badly needed upgrade today, but it still isn't enough.
Martin Bryant / The Next Web:
Vlad Savov / The Verge:
Nook Tablet 8GB official at $199, Nook Color price down to $169  —  Our sources were right on the money: Barnes & Noble has just announced an 8GB version of its Nook Tablet, pricing it in direct competition with the Kindle Fire at $199.  The Nook Color has also been reduced in price, down to $169.
Charles Arthur / Guardian:
Android is most-used smartphone OS in UK, overtaking Apple, data shows  —  With its iPhone, Apple may be the most-used brand, but Android now has more than a third of installed base of consumers  —  Android has taken over from Apple and now has the largest share of the installed base …
Steve Lo / M.I.C. Gadget:
The iPad 3 Rumor Roundup  —  iPad 3 has more tapered edges than the iPad 2, but a little bit thicker  —  What is the latest and greatest with the iPad 3?  We have all the rumors, and all the purported specs covered.  We also have an exclusive in depth look at the back shell of the iPad 3 …
Ray Walters / ExtremeTech:
Canonical reveals Ubuntu for Android  —  Canonical is making good on its promise to bring its popular Ubuntu flavor of Linux to a broader range of devices by announcing Ubuntu for Android, a release that will enable a full desktop computing experience on a docked Android smartphone.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols / Open Source Blog:
Apache releases first major new version of popular Web server in six years  —  Summary: The first new version of Apache, the world's most popular Web server, has just been released after six years with new cloud-friendly features The Apache Software Foundation has just announced the release version 2.4 …
Reuters:
Google gets real-time data from LSE  —  (Reuters) - The London Stock Exchange Group is to provide real-time market data to Google, bolstering the search-engine's Google Finance offering with free access to London prices previously only available with a delay.
Robert M. McDowell / Wall Street Journal:
The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom  —  Top-down, international regulation is antithetical to the Net, which has flourished under its current governance model.  —  On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet.
Ari Levy / Business Week:
‘PayPal Mafia’ Gets Richer  —  Yelp and Facebook's IPOs will give another boost to Silicon Valley's influential PayPal alumni  —  The fortunes of the so-called PayPal Mafia are poised to grow.  —  Jeremy Stoppelman and Max Levchin own about $200 million in Yelp Inc. shares heading …
Ryan Kim / GigaOM:
Amazon Appstore more lucrative for many devs than Android Market  —  Investment in Amazon Appstore is paying off in a big way for many top developers, a good chunk of whom are pulling in more money for their apps on Amazon than through Google's Android Market.
Trevor Gilbert / PandoDaily:
The Older You Are, The Harder It Is To Win At Social  —  A big problem investors and pundits have with companies like Google, Microsoft and Apple is that they are seemingly incapable of creating a successful social network, despite being successful in many other areas of the software world.

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